


Rm 6725

by HelloTragic



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 11:39:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15460569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloTragic/pseuds/HelloTragic
Summary: Emma Swan is having a horrible day, and just when she thinks things might look up, she gets stuck with a very cranky patient, but God is he gorgeous.Nurse Emma Swan





	Rm 6725

**Author's Note:**

> Repost

                                        

 

Generally speaking, Emma loved being a floating nurse at Boston Mass Gen Hospital.  She moved all around the hospital to different departments letting her do a bit of everything, which she found exciting. Ruby, her best friend who was also a nurse, was always complaining about how boring her floor was.

 

Ruby worked in the post-operative ward, where patients were sent to recover after their operations if they were considered stable. Most of the patients were just waiting until they were well enough to be discharged so they could go home, while others were older and waiting, well, for anything. Some were hoping their children would come and take care of them, while others were waiting for a spot to open up in a nursing home. Ruby had coined it the ‘limbo floor’.

 

Emma couldn’t count the number of times that Ruby had complained because she was forced to give someone a bed bath or had to empty out their ostomy bags. Emma had laughed at the time, having yet to work on Ruby’s floor herself. She had only lived in Boston for about seven months, and she had only worked at the hospital for just a month less. Most of Emma’s floating was done in the emergency room, labor and delivery, or on the pediatric floor, but soon that would change.

 

Emma woke up early enough that she could go for a run before her shift. It had rained the night before though, and the pavement that morning was unforgiving. She slipped on the pavement in front of a crowd of high school kids waiting outside for the first bell to ring. If that hadn’t been mortifying enough, when Emma got home, she discovered that she had stepped on what appeared to be a used condom somewhere along the way, and it had tagged along home with her on the bottom of her shoe. The day was already off to a horrible start, and then it got worse.

 

After she showered off the early morning sidewalk grime, and the shame that came with it, she dressed in her bright red scrubs, and grabbed her bag to head to the hospital. She still had enough free time to grab a bear claw and a hot cocoa from a little café hidden away on the ground floor of the hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses avoided it because they didn’t like dealing with the crabby old lady that ran it, but Emma was unphased by the old woman, and in time, the old woman warmed to her and told her to call her Granny. They had struck up an odd friendship, and Emma had become addicted to the dash of cinnamon that Granny added to her morning cocoas. Unfortunately for Emma, there had been a small kitchen fire the day before and Granny’s was closed for repairs, meaning no breakfast.

 

When Emma stepped into the labor and delivery unit, she couldn’t find her name anywhere on the board. After wandering the hallways trying to find the charge nurse and having no luck, Emma’s mood really took a decline. About ten minutes later, and still no closer to finding out why she wasn’t on the board, she was about to give up and just call it a day when she ran into Dr. August Booth. They had known each other for years, and he was partially the reason she had relocated to Boston. After the New York fiasco, she longed to be around some familiar faces, and it really didn’t hurt that her brother had just transferred to the Boston Police Department, bringing his new wife with him. Having friends and family around made Emma feel like she was finally home.

 

August gave her a confused look as Emma passed him, clearly heading back to the locker room to grab her stuff.

 

“Hey, Em. What are you doing down here?”

 

“Well, I thought I was working today, but I’m not on the board and Regina’s nowhere to be found.” She shook her head trying to stomp out her annoyance with the whole day so far.

 

August laughed and looked back to a closed door, the door that lead to an on call room. Emma flushed, realizing where Regina must have been, only now hearing slight moans floating through the air.

 

“And as far as the other part goes,” August started, “I thought I heard Graham say they needed you on the post-op floor today.”

 

Emma’s eyes widened. It was rare, but on occasion, she would get an early morning call or text saying she was needed somewhere different. She hadn’t gotten that message that morning though. Fumbling around for her phone, she realized that the screen was black, and also that she had fallen into bed the night before without remembering to plug it into a charger first. CRAP.

 

Emma bolted using the stairs to run up three flights, and then across to the opposite side of the hospital. She was slightly out of breath as she arrived, to find a red head stomping her foot near the nurses station.

 

“It’s about time. My shift was supposed to be over thirty minutes ago! And what the hell are you wearing?”

 

Emma had never had the displeasure of meeting the nurse before, but she didn’t need to look at the woman’s ID badge to know she was Zelena Green. Ruby had told her plenty of stories about the wicked witch.

 

“I’m so sorry. I was originally supposed to be on another floor and my phone died so I didn’t hear about the switch until-“

 

Zelena waved her off. “It really doesn’t matter.” She almost snarled as she stomped away, not even briefing Emma on her patients for the day.

 

And yet Emma’s day was still about to get worse.

 

“Emma!”

 

Emma looked up to find Ruby grinning at her from further down the hallway. Emma made her way over to her, ready to vent about her crappy morning, only to realize that Ruby wasn’t alone. She was talking to Dr. Graham Humbert, the hot doctor that everyone mooned over. Emma snapped her mouth shut, trying not to embarrass herself.

 

“Emma, I presume?” She had heard that he had an accent, but she was unprepared for the Irish lilt that spilled from his mouth. “Ruby here has been talking about you all morning.”

 

Emma felt herself blush, but hoped that her red scrub top would help mask it. Speak of…

 

“Um, Ems, what’s happening here?” Ruby flourished her hand around indicated that she was confused by what Emma was wearing.

 

Emma quickly explained about the sudden transfer, managing to leave out the more embarrassing bits as Graham listened in. Ruby laughed and told her that there was a closet full of grey scrubs at the end of the hall if she wanted to change.

 

Graham was smiling at her too. “Well for what it’s worth, the red is very flattering on you.”

 

With that, Graham took his leave to finish his morning rounds, and Emma was left in the middle of the hallway with Ruby giving her a wolfish look. Emma knew the look well, and that soon Ruby would be forcing Emma into any and every situation she could find that would get her closer to the handsome doctor.

 

“Don’t.” It was the only thing Emma said as she went to grab new scrubs. Once she was changed and feeling slightly less out of place, she made her way to the nurse’s station and logged onto a computer so she could review her patients.  Two of them were about to be discharged for the day and would only need her to bring them paperwork when they were ready to go. Another one was an older gentleman that liked to sleep all day according to the notes. It was the last patient that caught her attention though.

 

Before she even read his chart, she caught sight of his photograph; he was gorgeous. Inky black hair fell across his face, highlighting a pair of piercing blue eyes. Emma must have been staring for too long, because she hadn’t even noticed Ruby come over and sit down at the next computer.

 

“Like what you see?”

 

Emma felt her cheeks heating up yet again.

 

“No, I’m just reading the chart thoroughly since Zelena didn’t tell me anything.”

 

It was obvious that she wasn’t reading the chart as the screen was still at the top section, but she prayed Ruby would just let it go.

 

“So then you know he’s in here for a stab wound?” Ruby asked.

 

Emma’s eyes widened. They saw plenty of stab wounds down in the emergency room, and while a small few were random attacks, most of them were gang related. She couldn’t seem to reconcile this man as a dangerous guy, but then again, it did look like he may have had a small scar on one side of his face. This man, Killian Jones, couldn’t be a Southie could he? God, she needed to get a grip.

 

“No, not like that,” Ruby chuckled obviously knowing exactly how Emma’s brain worked. “He was doing that sailing thing. You know, where they start off in Florida or wherever and sail up to Maine for fun. Oh, wait, you weren’t here for it last year. Well anyway, he was sailing with some friends and I guess they had been drinking and his friends say that he slipped and fell onto a old rusty hook. He’s got a pretty good gash in his leg, but as far as I know all of his other parts work.”

 

Emma nearly choked on the breath she was taking in. Ruby gave her a slight wink before continuing.

 

“Oh, and one more thing. One of the idiots in the operating room removed his catheter, not realizing that he had to go back in later today, so have fun giving him a new one.”

 

Emma was certain that Ruby was just messing with her, until she scrolled down and saw it in the notes:

 

> _Surgeon was unable to remove all of the penetrating object. Patient has been moved to recover. Latest xray shows that object has since detached and needs to be removed. Patient requires insertion of urinary catheter._

 

She let her head fall and hit the desk. If the day wasn’t bad enough, now she had to go into this beautiful man’s room, and while she was a professional and knew that nothing would ever happen, she would have to do the least seductive thing in the world, and he’d probably hate her for it.

 

And that still wouldn’t be the worst of her day.

 

Emma worked up her courage by stalling. She went to the other three patients first, introducing herself. She informed the two discharged patients that she would be in with their paperwork as soon as the pharmacy filled their medications. She checked on the sleeping man and grabbed him an extra glass of water in case he woke up thirsty. She had stalled as long as she could though.

 

He was even more gorgeous in person. The picture had been slightly faded, not showing just how immensely blue his eyes really were. She took in a deep breath and knocked on the door, announcing her presence. His eyes blew wide when he saw her, but he remained quiet. Emma grabbed some gloves, and dug around in some drawers to get out the kit she would need. She had decided a direct approach would be best.

 

“Mr. Jones, my name is Emma. I’ll be your nurse for the day.” She watched him nod, still not saying anything. “I saw on your chart that you’re going back in for another round of surgery later.”

 

He nodded again. It took everything she had not to lose herself when his tongue darted out to wet his lips. She wondered if he could hear her heart beating.

 

“So I’m going to need to insert this catheter-”

 

“No!” God, his accent was even sexier that Dr. Humbert’s.

 

“Mr. Jones, I understand. It’s completely normal to feel apprehensive about-” She was cut off again.

 

“I’m sorry, but no.”

 

Emma waited, hoping that he would get over the initial shock and let her just get it over with. When she saw his jaw start clenching and his hand move in a protective maneuver around his groin, she knew that acceptance was out the window.

 

“Mr. Jones. I’m sorry, but it has to be done before you go back to surgery.”

 

“Get me someone else.”

 

Emma tilted her head in confusion. “I’m sorry?” It was a question.

 

“I said, get me someone else, anyone else, as long as they aren’t you.” He turned his head back to the tv signaling that he was finished with the conversation.

 

Emma sighed in frustration and stormed out of the room almost knocking over a tray in the process.This day had started off awful, and now she was being yelled at and dismissed by a guy that had gotten so drunk he’d accidentally stabbed himself on a boat. Who the hell was he to judge her? But those eyes. Emma told herself to snap out of it as she went to find another nurse. Everyone was busy except for the nurse with a nametag that read Tink. She was so sweet when Emma explained what had happened with the guy in 6725, and she felt awful sending her into the room in her place knowing he’d probably react the same with her. Except he didn’t. Tink emerged from the room fifteen minutes later telling Emma that he was good to go.

 

She was livid.

 

She avoided his room until it was time for his medicine, and as pissed as she was, she knew he needed his antibiotics. She entered the room without saying anything this time, planning to just get in and get out, but as soon as she walked in, he locked eyes with her. She watched as his face contorted and he screamed, actually screamed, at her to get out.

 

Emma left, medicine still in hand. She found Ruby running up the hall to her to find out what the commotion was. Emma explained and Ruby assured her she was right to feel annoyed with him. Ruby grabbed the medicine from Emma’s hand and entered the room, closing the door behind her. Two minutes later, Ruby emerged without the medicine, and without the yelling. Emma was floored. Ruby just shrugged and went to another room where a call light had just flashed.

 

Luckily for Emma, Jones was taken back to surgery, leaving her with four blissful hours of peace and calm. When he came back to recover he was still asleep, making it easier for her to care for him. As she was pushing some morphine through his IV to prevent pain, two of his friends arrived. They asked Emma how he was doing, and further explained how the incident had occurred. Killian had had a beer or two, but hadn’t actually been drunk. The guy sitting on his right side however, Will Scarlett, had had quite a bit more to drink, and had stumbled into Killian, knocking him over.

 

“Don’t worry,” she told them. “The doctor said that they were able to remove the tip of the hook that broke off, and everything looks good. He’ll have a faint scar, but otherwise he’ll be fine.

Physically at least.”

 

The last part was mumbled under her breath but apparently not as quietly as she had meant for it to be.

 

“I’m sorry?” One of his friends asked, confused.

 

“It’s nothing. Forget I said anything.” Emma tried to play it off, but could see the man was concerned.

 

“If there’s something else wrong with him, please tell us.” His accented voice, also English, was almost pleading.

 

“Robin?” Killian’s voice was muffled.

 

“Hey, Will and I are here.”

 

Killian opened his eyes and smiled faintly upon seeing his two companions. When Killian turned to find her watching, his face grew intense again.

 

“Get out!” He screamed even louder than before, which was impressive considering he had just had a breathing tube removed from his throat.

 

Emma turned to his friend, Robin. “That is what I meant. Physically your friend will be fine, but otherwise, he’s a complete and total ass!”

 

Emma stormed out again, not even caring that she had just yelled at a patient and could possible lose her job for it. The rest of her day was spent in a funk as she counted down the hours. Her two patients left and were replaced by new grump patients who kept complaining about pain no matter how many painkillers she gave them. Luckily the old man slept through most of the day, giving her a slight reprieve. With about thirty minutes left in her shift, she found Ruby again and they both complained about her day. Ruby had been vomited on twice, and that had been the better part of her day. Emma told Ruby about how she had been yelled at again and was now having other nurses to go in and care for him. To her aggravation, no one else had mentioned his poor behavior, not even Ruby. When Emma asked her if he said anything, Ruby shrugged.

 

“No, he was actually really nice.”

 

Shift change came and Emma gave the new nurse a briefing on all of the patients and left as fast as her legs could carry her, praying she never got assigned to the unit again. When she got home, the first thing she did was plug in her phone, letting it restart. She hopped into the shower one more time trying to relax her tensed muscles. Still too frustrated to sleep, she turned on the news and cuddled into a blanket on her couch. Sure enough there was a story about the sailing event Ruby had told her about. Some of the competitors had small sail boats, while others were more like yachts. There was one in particular at the marina though that really caught her eye. It was old and almost looked like a pirate ship, magical in a way. As the news continued she fell asleep dreaming about what it would be like to sail on the old ship emblazoned with the name Jolly Roger.

 

Emma woke early again, making sure to check her phone to see if there were any changes. The only message she had from the hospital was the day old one she had missed. She went through her normal morning routine of working out and showering. She even managed to get some breakfast from the reopened Granny’s. The day was already so much better than the previous one. She got back up to the labor and delivery ward and swapped out information with the night nurse with no issues. The day had been pretty slow, only two babies had made their arrival by the end of her shift, though there were plenty of women in active labor on the floor. Just as Emma was exchanging shift change info, a bouquet of flowers were delivered. Emma barely paid attention to the delivery guy, assuming they were for one of the new mothers, or even one of the poor woman still having contractions. When the nurse next to her read off the name Emma Swan, everyone at the nurse station fell silent.

 

“I guess Dr. Humbert finally got up the guts to ask you out then?” Luckily this redhead was much more perky and to Emma’s liking than the one on the post-op floor.

 

“What?” Emma shrieked.

 

“Emma,” Ariel said exasperatedly, “He’s had a crush on you since you started but he was too shy to talk to you.”

 

Emma felt her cheeks heat yet again. While she had a strict rule about dating coworkers that she would never break, she had to admit that he was sweet and handsome. The flowers weren’t from him though, and as Emma opened the card, her jaw nearly hit the floor.

 

Please accept these as a sincere apology for my behaviour yesterday. It would seem that I make for a very poor mannered patient. I’m sorry I was an ‘arse.’    -K.J.

 

That had been the last thing Emma had expected. As she gathered her things for the evening, she felt a slight bit of annoyance begin. As she headed for the elevator, it grew into anger. As she rode the elevator up, she let it fester. He probably only sent them because his friends forced him to, if it was really even Killian that had sent them. She nearly stomped her way down the hall to his room, ready to give him a piece of her mind and to find out what his problem was, but she stopped short when she saw him sleeping. She was torn. Part of her wanted to shake him awake and rip into him, while the more rational side told her that it wouldn’t help anything. Instead, she set the flowers down on a table next to him and left, only to run straight into someone.

 

“Oh, sorry,” she whispered.

 

“No worries.” Emma looked up to find Killian’s friend Will looking back at her with a mischievous look on his face.

 

“Visiting hours are over, you know.” Emma chastised herself for being so blunt.

 

“I know, I just need to grab the keys I left and I’ll be on me way.”

 

Emma left without saying anything else, hitting the down button on the elevator. As she waited, Will caught up to her, but remained silent. They both entered the elevator and Emma pressed the button for the ground floor. The stayed silent again through two floors before Will burst out in a fit of laughter.  Emma asked him what he found so funny. It took him another two floors to compose himself.

 

When he finally did, he started, “Okay, so you’re a nurse.”

 

“Ya,” Emma replied letting the word draw out a little, trying to figure out where he was going with it.

 

“So I presume you know a little something about human anatomy.” Emma nodded cautiously and he continued. “And I’m sure you know all about blood flow patterns.” She nodded again, still unsure of what he meant. “And in that case, I’m sure you know what can happen to a man when he see’s a beautiful woman.” He let it settle in.

 

Emma gasped as she felt her eyes widen in shock.

 

“And,” he started back up once he was sure Emma had caught on, “you can probably imagine that that would be a little embarrassing, and incredibly painful if someone were to have a plastic tube running up their manly bits.”

 

The elevator opened on the ground floor, but Emma was too stunned to move. When Will realized she hadn’t followed him off, he turned back to her.

 

“Oi, you okay in there?” Emma simply nodded a little and Will laughed again. “Look, I know yesterday probably didn’t paint him in the best light, but he’s actually a really great guy. Always doing charity work for underprivileged kids and what not. And he likes you. You’re actually the first woman I’ve seen turn his head in years, since he’s normally so focused on his work. I don’t know if that means anything or not, but those flowers were meant for you, not him.” He winked at her and walked away, leaving her still standing in the elevator as the doors closed again.

 

Screw it.

 

Emma went back up to grab the flowers only to find him awake this time. Instead of yelling though, she was greeted with a small smile.

 

“You came back,” he whispered.

 

“Um, I- uh-” she stammered out. “I forgot something,” she finally managed as the reached for the flowers.

 

“I really am sorry. I usually pride myself on being a gentleman, and I guess I’m not used to being the one in a hospital bed.” He looked so sincere and Emma couldn’t help but slowly drop into one of the chairs next to his bed.

 

Not knowing what to say next, Emma let the first thought that ran through her head spill out. “You sail?”

 

He chuckled lightly. “A bit here and there. I just got back from a very long work trip and thought I’d take a few weeks off with my friends before I went back to work here in Boston.”

 

“So you live here then?” God, she felt like a fool. Twenty minutes earlier she was ready to murder him, and now she was acting like a silly school girl with a crush.

 

“I do.” He looked down to his hands.

 

“I live here too.” Emma hadn’t meant to say it outloud.

 

He smiled at her. “Well, seeing as how we both live here, perhaps you would allow me to take you out to dinner as a more formal apology?”

 

She wanted to scream yes like a blithering idiot, but caught herself this time. “Um, it wouldn’t be right to date a patient.” She looked down as her own hands wrapped around the flowers sitting in her lap.

 

“Well, in that case, it’s good that I won’t be a patient anymore after tomorrow.”

 

Emma snapped her head up. “They’re letting you out already? Surely you’re not going back out to finish the sailing trip?” She flushed with embarrassment at her overreaction.

 

“You don’t have to worry about me, love. I’m a survivor.” He winked at her before adding that he was going back to his apartment to finish recovering.

 

She felt her heart racing and breathing was becoming an issue.

 

“Well, in that case, maybe I’d let you take me to dinner then. After you’re out of here, I mean.”

 

Emma told him she had to leave and wished him a goodnight, trying to save herself from any further embarrassment. The next morning she grabbed an extra cup of cocoa, writing her name and phone number on the sleeve of the cup, before dropping it off to Killian’s room where he was still sleeping. She went about the rest of the day running trauma after trauma in the emergency room, unable to say goodbye before he left.

 

He called her a few days later and invited her over for a home cooked meal. His loft was amazing, having a view of the ocean from the top floor bedroom. After dinner they sat on the couch, as his leg was still recovering and stairs were out of the question for the time being, as was another more, well, vigorous activity. Instead, they talked briefly, and made out like horny teenagers. Emma left late that night, knowing that if she stayed they would do more, and he wasn’t healed properly yet. They continued that way for a few weeks, taking turns between apartments and restaurants.

 

It wasn’t until after Killian’s final appointment when he got the all clear from his doctor for his to return to work, and that he could continue normal activities, that Emma spent the night. He was amazing, it was amazing, and Emma had only been slightly disappointed that she hadn’t been able to see how well endowed he was before. They made love over and over again, before both of them fell asleep, fully sated.

 

When Emma woke in the morning, it was to the smell of fresh pancakes. She stretched and forced herself out of bed to locate her clothes, which had been thrown all over the room. Once she was dressed, or as fully dressed as she could be with the clothes she actually managed to find, she came downstairs to a sight that stopped her dead in her tracks. Standing behind the stove top in the kitchen island was Killian Jones, in a pair of doctor-green scrub pants. Emma’s jaw fell, and he gave her a sheepish grin, looking slightly ashamed.

 

Over breakfast, he explained that he worked at the same hospital, but had been in Africa for the past six months looking after children. He had left just as Emma had arrived and so they never met, but now he was back to work in the pediatric unit again. And with that, Emma threw out her only rule - the one about never dating coworkers, and eventually marrying them.

**Author's Note:**

> As always you can come yell at me on tumblr: wellhellotragic


End file.
